The Very Man

by Chris Binchy

After Rory has returned to Dublin to bury his mother, he decides that New York, with the flash job, fast money and high tech apartment is just not for him anymore, and it's time to be home again. But where is home and who is Rory now? His friends try to persuade him he's the same as he ever was but Rory knows different. Out to screw everyone and everything around him, Rory's life spirals out of control and he loses his job, his flat and his girlfriend. But having hit the bottom, he is lucky to meet the sweet forgiving and totally guileless Risn, a woman who believes in absolutes and believes in him. The Very Man is the carefully nuanced story of a man who feels he has nothing to lose but discovers that his life is unravelling before him. It is, too, a brilliant portrait of contemporary Dublin.

249 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2004

About the author

Chris Binchy is the author of People Like Us, Open-handed, and The Very Man, which was short-listed for the Irish Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. His aunt was author Maeve Binchy.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book, hoping that Binchy would be the 2nd coming of his aunt, Maeve Binchy, an author I truly love. Suffice it to say that he isn't. And that's fine - certainly it was an unrealistic expectation. But this book - about a young man in the swinging, supercharged Dublin of the early 2000s, completely buying into the self-centered ethos of the Reagan era that still held sway at that time - was almost a complete waste of time. Rarely have I encountered a character less appealing, and I kept reading only because it was such a simple book and I knew I could finish it quickly.

SO - not recommended. So many books, so little time to waste.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Binchy displays real insight into the hearts and minds of men. I found this book, about a 30 yr. old Dublin man's descent into alcoholism, and the recriminations and rationalizations that follow, very affecting. It's my second by this author, and I highly recommend it.

[Rebecca Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok but the character is a complete prat!

[Ian Mapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected - for some reason, I felt that this was a humourous book.

It is in fact a great slab of contemporary Dublin Life, plotting the slow downfall of a likeable bastard called Rory.

The initial style of writing is confusing and rapidly, he uproots from his successful like in New York when his mother dies to continue life in Dublin, where he mingles with the same set of friends. This is fast writing and the long passages of dialogue, where the speaker is not identified, make it difficult to keep up.

Life continues at the same success rate and pretty soon he has a top job and a student girlfiend that moves in with him. He then starts overstepping the mark - by recommending motivational schems at work where he continues to bask in the glory of a previously closed deal - to starting a half hearted affair with an even younger student.

Things increasingly spiral out of control and he tells bigger lies at work, gets into fights, splits up with his girlfriend and of course, loses his job.

The relationships with friends and family is well written and he has so many human traits that the author has made a good job of not making him squeaky clean. When Parson protaganists has a one night stand, we still feel this man is a good, middle class stalwart. Binches Rory is an unapologetic bastard and that is a change.

Things reach their peak when he takes a job as a chef and goes on a three day drinking binge, being found by his younger model girlfriend and then "rescued" by a weekend away with her parents.

Dublin comes out as a true character of this book. The place seems to be co-ercing him into his downfall by offering so many distratcions.

Raps up rather quickly but a damn fine read and I will be looking out for more stuff from him.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I intensely disliked the first two chapters or so - the pace was too rushed; the opening felt perfunctory and the material would have been better as backstory - the novel turned out to be exactly my kind of read: an unreliable and unlikable protagonist somehow makes you care about the details of his life. I mean, I lost sleep every night this week as I stayed up too late reading. The characterisation in this novel - of the minor characters as well as Rory - is just SPOT. ON. Subtle and true-to-life, but so immediate and compelling. Four stars because it's obviously a first novel (god, that sounds pretentious, sorry), and the plot kind of dies in the final third of the book, though honestly, the plot is far less important than the characters. I'm really looking forward to reading more by Binchy; going for Open-Handed next, I think, once I can track down a copy.